[We are grateful to Dr. G. Douglas Young, Director of the American Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, for the material for the above article. This is the first report to be published in the English language on the excavation at Debir. (Other article’s have appeared in Hebrew.) — Ed.]
Although the Bible states that Debir is located in the hill country of Southern Judah, scholars argue that the town is situated in the lowlands. Is the Bible wrong? Let’s take a look.
Joshua and the Israelites conquered the Canaanite city of Debir during the conquest of Canaan. (Joshua 10:38, 39; 11:21; 12:13). When the land was divided, Joshua gave Hebron and Debir, part of the territory of the tribe of Judah, to Caleb because he “wholly followed the Lord God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14).
When Caleb began mopping-up operations as he moved in to occupy his newly acquired possession, he first took Hebron (Joshua 15:13, 14). When he came to Debir, however, he did not conquer it himself, but instead made an offer: “He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher [Debir], and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife” (Joshua 15:16). Othniel, Calab’s nephew, accepted the challenge and took the city, thereby gaining for himself not only a place to live but also a wife (Joshua 15:17).
When the young bride looked over her new home, as with most astute wives, Achsah decided that the facilities were inadequate. So she went to her father Caleb and said, “thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water.” Caleb, loving father as he was, “gave her the upper springs and the nether [lower] springs” (Joshua 15:19).
This incident not only gives us a glimpse into life in ancient Israel, but also tells us something about Debir. In fact, it was Joshua 15:19 which gave the clues that led to the eventual identification of the site.
The young bride Achsah complained that the climate was that of the south land or, in Hebrew, the “negev”. So the climate in Debir was like that of the Biblical Negev, the desert region south of Judah. For this reason, she asked Caleb for “gulloth”, or springs.
The term “gulloth” literally means basins. Professor William F. Albright defined the “gulloth” as “subterranean pockets and basins
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of water under some of the wadis.” Access to a gulloth was gained by cutting a well shaft through the rock in the dry creek bed.
Caleb solved the problem by giving Achsah upper springs and lower springs. It is apparent that these water sources were outside the natural territorial limits of Debir, but close enough to be transferred to its jurisdiction.
The Bible makes it clear that Debir was one of 11 towns located in the southern hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:48–51). But no major site dating to the period of Debir had ever been found in that region.
For four seasons between 1926 and 1932, Albright excavated Tell Beit Mirsim in the lowlands of Judah. There, along with remains from the period of Debir’s history, he found nearby underground basins. Because of the lack of a known candidate in the hill country, Albright concluded that Tell Beit Mirsim must be Debir. This identification was widely accepted by scholars.
Was the Bible in error at this point? While it said that Debir was in the hill country, was it in reality in the lowlands as the scholars claimed?
In October 1967 an Israeli scholar by the name of M. Kokhavi began a systematic survey of the Judean hill country. At a ruin known as Khirbet Rabud, much to his surprise, he found evidence of a sizable community of the Israelite period. There was a large cemetary as well as quantities of pottery and large wall segments.
As the site was being looted by illicit diggers, the authorities ordered an emergency excavation. Kokhavi led an expedition sponsored by the American Institute of Holy Land Studies and the Institute for Archaeology of the Tel Aviv University. Intensive excavations were conducted during a two-week season in June 1968 and a one-week season in 1969.
The scholars found that the city was originally Canaanite, and that it was founded at least by the beginning of the fourteenth century B.C. The Canaanite city was about 15 acres in size with a wall that had a circumference of over one-half mile. There was evidence of Israelite occupation from the period of the Canaanites through the divided monarchy. The recovered remains left little doubt that Khirbet Rabud was a major city in Judah.
Remnants of an impressive Israelite city wall about 12 feet thick were found. The total city area during the Israelite period was 12½
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acres. A rich horde of vessels, as well as one royal and two private seal impressions and a pair of figurines, were recovered from a level having signs of destruction by fire. Since the artifacts are typical of the eighth century B.C., it is most likely that this level represents a city conquered by Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Sennacherib’s campaign against the cities of Judah is mentioned in 2 Kings 18 and 19, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 36 and 37. When the fortifications were rebuilt after that tragedy a tower was added inside the wall, increasing its width at that point to about 21 feet. Occupation was resumed in the seventh — sixth centuries until the fall of Judah at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C.
Since the written sources mention only one important city south of Hebron during the Canaanite period, and since his intensive survey of all other significant sites in the area did not produce another candidate, Kokhavi was convinced that Khirbet Rabud was Debir.
Kokhavi observed that the agriculture in this southern region of the hill country consists mainly of small plots marked off by dikes in the bottom of stream beds. Only here can the rich alluvial deposits coming down from the higher region around Hebron be held in place and cultivated. Such soil is far superior to the local soil on the surrounding hills. Furthermore, the annual precipitation of 40 to 80 inches is marginal. This means that the agricultural regime at Khirbet Rabud is identical to that in the true Negev farther south. It fitted Achsah’s unusual description of Debir as a “land of the Negev” exactly.
The identification was further strengthened when Kokhavi found two subterranean chambers not far from Khirbet Rabud. They were fed by underground sources and tapped by well shafts through the bedrock. Located slightly less than two miles from Khirbet Rabud, they were called “The Upper Well of the Leech” and “The Lower Well of the Leech”. Thus two water sources of a type corresponding exactly to Albright’s definition of the Hebrew “gulloth,” and bearing the designations “Upper” and “Lower,” were found in a valley not far from Khirbet Rabud. The wells were far enough away so that they were not part of Khirbet Rabud, but close enough so that they could be annexed to the city and used by its inhabitants.
Khirbet Rabud therefore satisfies all of the conditions for an identification with Debir. Once again scholars have had to change their opinions in the light of additional evidence which has shown the Bible record to be correct in every detail.
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